Gordon
"Out of the way! Express coming through!" — Gordon, Thomas' Tall Friend, fourteenth season Gordon is a Character From Shining Time Station TV Show. Gordon was built experimentally by Sir Nigel Gresley at Doncaster Works between 1920 and 1922 as an "A0" Pacific. When Gresley was finished using Gordon for designing his A1 Pacifics, he sold Gordon, along with a spare boiler and firebox, to the North Western Railway. In 1939, Gordon went to Crewe for a rebuild. His conjugated valve gear was replaced by a two-cylinder chassis (designed by the Fat Controller), he received a smoother running plate, Stanier underframes wheels, cylinders, squared-off side windows, rectangular buffers, and a Fowler tender. Gordon has become famous after his adventures: In 1953 he pulled Queen Elizabeth II's royal train and in 1956 he traveled to London, where he was lauded by a large crowd. Gordon did not like the visit, however, as he discovered that London's big station was St. Pancras. Then, in 1986, Gordon got to visit Carlisle when a Diesel taking a Railtour failed. In 2010, he was dismissed from pulling the express regularly to Barrow due to the purchase of Pip and Emma. He likes this, because he can do two trips a day instead of one and he doesn't have to hurry. PersonaEdit Gordon's important position as the engine who usually pulls the Express has made him proud, pompous and arrogant, with good reason too; he is the strongest engine on Sodor. Gordon's philosophy "tender engines don't shunt" meant that he looked down on tank engines and tender engines who do shunt, but after being locked in the shed with Henry andJames after going on strike, he seems to have abandoned this philosophy. Because of his rank in the social order of the North Western Railway, Gordon expects to get the important jobs and either sulks when he does not, or gets jealous of those who do. Sometimes, Gordon acts as a bully, particularly towardsEdward, but following misadventures where Edward had to help him, Gordon had to acknowledge that despite being old, Edward is still a very useful engine. Sometimes Gordon shows a kinder side and gives the younger engines advice, usually after he has had some mishap as a result of his foolhardiness. Some of his advice is not exactly honest, though, as James and Sir Handel have discovered. BasisEdit According to Sudrian "historian" Martin Clutterbuck, Gordon is supposed to be an experimental prototype for Sir Nigel Gresley's A1 Pacific design for the Great Northern Railway - the so-called "A0". Gordon was then built at Doncaster Works, Yorkshire, and tested against a similar NER Pacific in 1923. Gordon, being an experimental engine, never received a number, and was later rebuilt at Crewe with LMS underparts and a six-wheel tender, owing to various problems. Gordon has since been rebuilt below the footplate according to Stanier designs, his running plate being Sir Topham Hatt's own design. LiveryEdit Gordon is painted NWR blue with NWR red-and-yellow lining and the number "4" painted on his tender sides in yellow. Before arriving on Sodor, he was painted Doncaster green with white and black lining. In the Railway Series, he carries two builder's plates on the sides of his cab. GordonTakesaDip.PNG OfftheRails1.png TheTroublewithMud56.jpg PercyRunsAway3.png PaintPotsandQueens3.jpg PercyRunsAway5.png TenderEngines25.png GordonandtheFamousVisitor61.png GordonandtheFamousVisitor48.png Category:Characters Category:Thomas The Tank Engine Characters